Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), is a growing field of research and practice in higher education. AIED is increasingly permeating the student journey, from admissions through graduation, and is affiliated with tools such as early alert systems, adaptative tutoring, predictor systems, and language learning chatbots. These emergent technologies provide previously unforeseen opportunities to advance student success, such as widespread individualization, yet pose challenges related to technical literacy and ethical and safety concerns. After the initial excitement surrounding AI chatbots in 2022, catalyzed by the introduction of ChatGPT, the pace of technological innovation continues to accelerate, with AI becoming increasingly embedded across society. While existing research indicates a connection between AI perceptions and technical literacy, the current literature only scratches the surface of AIED perceptions. The higher education industry is at a critical juncture where it can either establish guidelines and standards for ethical AI use in education that align with pedagogical best practices or allow AI to outpace education, potentially diminishing its relevance to students preparing for the modern world. This mixed methods explanatory sequential design content analysis aims to understand how individuals that post about higher education perceived AIED from July 2022 to July 2024 using social media data from X, formerly Twitter, and Reddit. Using social media data allowed the researcher to gain insight into how AIED is perceived and discussed by individuals that post about higher education unprompted. This study also used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model adapted to the higher education ecosystem, alongside Kelman’s 1985 and Dholakia et al.’s Social Influence and Social Consumer Influence theories, to place the perceptions of these individuals about AIED in context. Overall, the findings confirmed that despite widespread use of generative AI, AIED is still a new and emerging topic and industry wide AI literacy levels are still developing. In addition, the study found that individuals who discuss AI on social media showed concerns about the impact of AI on higher education and that x-risk related concerns were more prevalent on social media than in the literature. These findings highlighted the need for the higher education industry stakeholders to demonstrate ownership for AI Literacy and Responsible and Ethical AI use. As individuals question if higher education is worth the expense and will remain relevant, historical technological inertia must be overcome to protect the value of higher education as AI technology continues to advance. Ultimately as AI becomes more integral to everyday life, institutions need to demonstrate they can adapt to an AI-centric future.